Life Goes On
by Riksauce
Summary: Draco/Ginny Fic. Not 7th book compliant (changed some details).From a budding friendship emerges a love affair. From the perfect relationship emerges a dark secret. With a new lease on life Ginny begins a relationship with Draco, but she has to learn to adapt to his life and he has to survive in hers. All while facing the wrath of Ron and his sudden resentment and temper.
1. Prologue Catch up

Life Goes On

Background: Hey everyone. Just some background information on the plot, this is set in Ginny's 6th year and so Draco's 7th. The Events of book 7 did take place, with some obvious tweeks. Book six and seven occurred during the time span of book 6 with the main events of book 6 taking place before Christmas break and book 7 taking place after. Bills wedding doesn't happen (it will take place during my story the summer after the battle of Hogwarts) and instead the trio and the Order were forced to flee during Christmas with the Minister delivering them their inheritance from Dumbledore on Christmas eve. With the major events of book 7 taking place from there, and the battle happening at the end of the school year. Snape didn't die, Hermione had been carrying an antidote to Nagini's venom just in case, and then healed his wounds as he went into a coma. Fred also does not die, Percy does. Lucious Malfoy died when Draco hesitated to return to Voldemort's side during the standoff and with the death of his father Draco immediately returned.

Ok, this is my first story, I hope you enjoy it.

Prologue; The Summer

Following the war the Wizarding Government is in shambles. A head of the Auror department Kingsley Shacklebot requests the aid of Harry Potter, the Saviour of the Wizarding World. They begin conducting interviews to determine who can be trusted to return to their posts within the ministry, starting with the departments that are involved with Muggle relations and magical concealment. Arthur Weasley is promoted to the head of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts as well as a new department interested in the integration of muggle technology into wizarding life.

Draco Malfoy offers his help in the tracking of Death Eaters in hiding and once cleared of all speculation following the testimony of Harry Potter begins a working relationship with the newly appointed Minister, Kinglsey. Draco begins what is essentially a summer internship in the Ministry alongside Harry, they find they work well together and develop an almost friendship.

After the war and the death of her brother Ginny gained a new lease on life. She realized that a person only lives once and that she should make the most of the time she is given. With that, she decided to get a job for the summer to save up to buy new clothes and other bits and bobs she had been wanting. She didn't want to take advantage of her father's new promotion by asking her parents to buy her new things, but she also wanted to experience owning new clothes that fit properly and experiment with her own personal style to better explore who she was as a person. She got a job at Ollivander's helping the man to clean up the store after the war and restock his supply of wands.

Snape awoke from his coma in the middle of July to the greeting of Kinglsey and Harry. He was his old self, but grateful and touch less rude. He was informed of his proven innocence during his stay in hospital and how they used his memories as evidence. He requested an audience with Hermione to personally thank her for saving his life. As evidence of his gratitude he offered her an apprenticeship under his patronage following her last year at Hogwarts, she accepted. He was well enough to leave by the end of the week and made it known that he intended to return to Hogwarts to continue as potions professor and to resign as Headmaster with the intention that McGonagall replace him.

Hermione and Ron were now in a relationship, all be it a complicated one. They still constantly argued and belittled one another, much to the dismay of their friends and families. She found her parents and restored their memories living with them until the latter half of June. During her free time she returned to Hogwarts and assisted the faculty in restoring the school to its former glory and Madam Prince specifically in the restoration of the library.

Ron stayed at home and lounged around.


	2. Chapter 1 Awkward

Chapter 1

A week before Bill and Fleur's wedding Ginny found herself at Ollivander's placing a new batch of wands in their rightful places within the shelves. She had been working here for most of the summer and the shop was essentially good as new. At the beginning Mr. Ollivander was insistent that Ginny only help restore the shop and take no part in the creation or repair of the wands, "Very intricate work Miss. Weasley" he had told her "Many a year of tedious study is essential to Wand making. It simply won't do". After the first Month he caved, and she began by inspecting the wands for any potential defects Ollivander may have missed and from there moved to repairing cracks and scuffs in broken wands. He was very impressed with her progressed and believed she had a future in wand making, Ginny wasn't so sure but she enjoyed the work and it paid very well.

Currently, Ginny was waiting for Harry to pick her up for a lunch date it had become a weekly routine, but Ginny couldn't say she was happy for it. Since the end of the war Ginny had decided that it she needed a purpose in her life, and she was on a quest to find hers. When she was little she thought it was to be Harry Potter's girlfriend, and she held that belief until the war. She was beginning to realize Harry wasn't the man she thought he was, that she had had a skewed perception of him based on the media and her own prepubescent fantasies. Harry underneath it all was a quiet and shy person who often times was too clouded in his own worries to notice anyone else's. Take for example today, Harry was usually there to pick her up at exactly 12:30 which to anyone else would seem extremely punctual. However, Ginny's lunch began at 12 and had began at 12 every day since May 28th when she began her job and on that first Thursday that Harry had proposed the lunch date and every day since he has come at 12:30. "Hey Ginny" Harry called as he walked up to the store front where Ginny was waiting "ready to go?"

"Yeah, what kept you this time?"

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Gin I don't know why I keep thinking your lunch is at 12:30. Well, at least I'm consistent right?" Harry laughed while brushing off her question. They made their way to the Leaky Caldron for lunch chatting aimlessly as they went. "So how's the Ministry coming along?" Ginny asked, Harry was currently assisting Kingley Shacklebot the temporary Minister of Magic with the reorganization of the wizard government in Britain. "Well actually, we're almost ready to hold an election, and your Dad's making great progress with his department. Oh, and Malfoy has been a much larger help then we anticipated." Harry answered, not bothering to ask Ginny about her day she noticed, not that he ever did if she was being honest. As they sat in their usual seat Ginny noticed some familiar faces walking in from London, "Harry look isn't that Ron over by the door, and who's that he's with?" As Harry turned his head Ginny recognized the girl as Lavender Brown and immediately began walking angrily toward her brother and the girl who was definitely not Hermione. Before she got very far however Harry grabbed her arm and began pulling her out of the pub "Harry let go! What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? You're going to cause a scene Ginny! Calm down before you hurt yourself."

"Calm down! Ron is in there with another woman, how can I calm down? I can't believe you're not upset over this!" Ginny hollered at him in front of the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Harry looked quit angrily at her and Ginny immediately stood quiet. "What Ron does is his business and whatever he is doing here with Lavender had nothing to do with you. Besides, you can't just go up to people screaming at them about infidelity when you don't know what's going on. What if they're just two friends enjoying lunch and you run up their like a lunatic looking ridiculous" He glared at Ginny.

She hung her head in shame. Ginny thought it out and agreed with Harry's logic, seeing how foolish she had acted but as she went to offer him an apology for almost causing a scene Harry said "sometimes I can't take you out in public, you act like a child. Why don't you grow up! Become a lady, for Christ sakes Ginny. I'm a public figure now and I have to always be aware of how I represent myself in public, I can't just have you running around causing riots left and right."

Oh.

Ginny almost let herself believe he stopped her for her, because he didn't want her to make a fool of herself, to spare her some embarrassment. But no, it was for his image. She sighed "Ok Harry, I'm sorry. How about we just skip lunch this week yeah?"

He glared, "Yeah alright". He opened the passage to Diagon Alley and walked off, not checking if she had followed.

The rest of Ginny's day was uneventful, but when she got home that night she was starving. She wasn't expecting to walk into the house to chaos. Hermione and Ron were at each other's throats.

He first thought was that Hermione knew about Ron hanging about with Lavender Brown that afternoon. However, while looking around at her family seated at the kitchen table, waiting out the argument, she locked eyes with Harry. He gave a slight shake of his head to indicate to her that what they say was not what the argument was about.

She sighed and began to climb the stairs to her room. From what she could hear it was the same argument she was sick of hearing. Ron was angry that Hermione was gone to the school so often to help Madam Prince restore the library. He was bitter and jealous of the books for taking up so much of her time. Meanwhile, Hermione was frustrated with Ron who simply sat around all day and in her words "not contributing at all to society".

When Ginny got to her room she threw herself down onto her bed. Bill's wedding was in a week and her room was soon going to be overrun with guests who would have to bunk with her. Most of the English guests would return to their own homes, but Fleur's immediate family from France were staying for the entire weekend because they never get to see her now that she lives in Britain. Ginny would be sharing her room with Fleur's little sister Gabrielle and Hermione, as well as Fleur herself the night before the wedding.

Hermione was already supposed to be sleeping in Ginny's room, but really she spent most nights in Ron's room with him and Harry. She would only be sleeping in Ginny's room for the wedding weekend to keep Molly happy, she was worried about how it may look to the Delacour family if she allowed Hermione to keep sleeping in Ron's room.

The wedding would be taking place under a tent in the Weasley's yard. Ginny wasn't entirely sure of the guest list, but Luna and Neville would be coming, two of Ginny's very best friends. Ginny was going to be a bridesmaid, along with Fleur's sister who is maid of honor. Charlie is Bill's best man, and the rest of the Weasley boys will be the groomsmen. Ginny didn't know the other two bridesmaids; they were friends of Fleur's from school. Fleur however did confide to Ginny that they would only there to even out the wedding party.

Ginny wasn't too up to date on the wedding plans, she just focused on her own special tasks and stayed out of the rest of it. It was stress she didn't need. The week after the wedding would be the grand reopening of the wand shop and Mr. Ollivander expected Ginny every day. They had been taking repairs, but Ollivander refused to sell any new wands until he had replenished his stock, citing how unfair it would be for someone to end up with their second choice wand simply because he had yet to make their perfect match. It was also the week the Hogwarts students would be receiving their letters, so it would be a very busy week at the store indeed.

Ginny opened her eyes to complete quiet. She must have fallen asleep while waiting for the drama to end downstairs. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at the clock. It was 5am and Ginny was wide awake and felt especially rested, but also extremely hungry. Crawling out of bed she went grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the washroom. She had slept in her day clothes and seeing at it was her day off; she opted to change into her pyjamas.

After she was cleaned and changed, she went downstairs to find some breakfast. No one else was up so she opted for some toast and an apple. Once she was seated at the table eating her food and flipping through the morning paper she heard someone come into the room. She looked up, surprised that someone else would be awake this early, to find Harry smiling down at her.

She smiled and motioned for him to take a seat. "Hey, what are you doing up so early?" she asked him.

"I have to get an early start this morning; Malfoy is going to be over shortly to escort me to the portkey that will take us to Professor Snape's home. He's really secretive and enjoying his privacy. Malfoy is his godson so I have to let him drag me around for a bit." He answered with hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Oh, I have today off, I was thinking of catching up on some reading." She replied timidly. She felt awkward without any notion of what she was supposed to say. She was saved from awkward conversation however, by a short rap on the door.

"That'll be Malfoy. I have to run up to my room for a second, can you let him in?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, of course" Ginny confirmed, but before she finish speaking Harry was already half way up the stairs. She sighed. Harry was beginning to seem less and less interested in her and the blow up during lunch was less of a rare occurrence then she liked to admit. She was starting to feel like she wasn't good enough for the Saviour of the Wizarding World.

There was another knock and Ginny remembered that she was supposed to answer the door. She ran over and pulled it open, remembering at the same time that she was only in her pajamas. Malfoy wasn't looking at her as she opened the door through; he looked right past her and marched into the house.

"Weasley, where's Potter?" Draco asked looking around the kitchen. Ginny shut the door and walked back towards the table and her breakfast. "He had to run upstairs for something" she answered as she reached the table and began to sit down. Malfoy looked at her then, and seemed to notice her state of undress as he appeared taken aback and then began to smirk.

"With your father's promotions I would have thought they would be able to at least buy you some clothes that actually fit Weasley" Ginny glared, her pajamas consisted of a t-shirt to which she had unceremoniously cut the bottom half off, and a pair of boxer type women's shorts that were loose fitting but also quite short. "Not that it's any of your bloody business Malfoy but these are my pajama's. I obviously wasn't expecting company this early".

He just kept smirking, as his eyes roamed the parts of her he could see past the table. "How long do you think Potter will be?" he asked, evidently remembering why he was there to begin with. Ginny roller her eyes "I have no idea Malfoy I'm not his keeper. He was dressed when we was down a minute ago so I don't imagine he'll be long." She picked up the Prophet and began to look it over, she actually had finished most of it before being interrupted this morning, but Malfoy didn't have to know that.

Malfoy looked towards the stairs and then back at Ginny, seemingly making up his mind about something. Ginny ignored him and continued flipping through the paper, when suddenly he plopped himself down beside her and started looking over her shoulder. "Anything good?" he asked.

Ginny couldn't help it, she laughed. "What are you doing?" she asked him with a look on her face that expressed both her annoyance and amusement.

"Well Potter is obviously taking his time, perhaps even gone back to bed. So, I may as well make myself comfortable while I wait." He said this while picking up a piece of Ginny's toast and beginning to put jam on it.

"Well let me go get him before you eat my entire breakfast Malfoy" she pushed her plate towards him and got up from the table. As she was approaching the stairs Malfoy said "Are you sure you want to go up there?" and she paused to look back at him. What a curious question to ask, she gave him a puzzled look before rolling her eyes and continuing up to Ron's room.

She heard the shower on as she passed the bathroom, and knocked when she got to the bedroom door. She heard rustling inside and someone must have knocked over a chair. She furrowed her brow and opened the door without waiting. What she saw was a very strange and awkward situation. Harry was sat on his bed in Ron's room, seemingly tying his shoe quite casually, as if he had all the time in the world. This wasn't what was odd, what was out of place was the very naked and very smug Padme Patil sitting on Ron's bed covering herself with his comforter.

When she entered Harry looked up at her and seemed annoyed at her intrusion. "Where's Ron and Hermione?" she asked him, not looking at Padme.

"Hermione spent the night at the school, and Ron is in the shower." He said not looking her in the eye.

"Oh, well are you almost ready? Draco is being a right pain in my arse downstairs and I wouldn't mind you getting him out of here." She said as he got up and began packing a ruck sack for his day. At her words he paused briefly and glanced at her before finishing up and starting towards the door.

As they made their way down the stairs he turned to her and asked "So when did he become Draco?"

Ginny looked at him and realized her earlier choice of Pronoun. "I don't know, I didn't say it consciously. Like I said you need to get him out of here."

Harry gave her a hard look before continuing down the stairs at a faster pace, and reaching the kitchen before her. As she entered the room the first thing she noticed was that Malfoy had finished her breakfast and the second was that Harry was already out the door.

"Thanks Weasley, although I probably should asked what you did to upset him so much, because now I have to deal with him." Malfoy addressed her while getting up from the table.

"I...I'm not sure" she said as she gazed through the still open door to the yard. She could see Harry waiting impatiently at the apparition point. "Sorry?" she offered to Malfoy. He smirked and started towards the door, as he went to close it behind him he looked at her and smiled "Thanks for the breakfast" he winked and took off.

Ginny sat at the table not sure what just happened.

A/N: Hey! sorry it took so long to post a proper chapter, and that it's sorta on the shorter side. I went home for Christmas break and didn't do any writing like I had planned. I rushed the end of this chapter slightly to get it out. I hope you like it! Let me know, hopefully the next won't take so long.


	3. Chapter 2 The Wedding

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them. Just wanted to mention this is my first story, and any feed back you have is greatly appreciated. Chapter 3 will hopefully be up in the next couple weeks. It'll finish up the Wedding, Hogwarts letter and hopefully make it up to the Feast. I intended to finish the wedding up in this chapter, but that seemed like a great ending point for the chapter in my opinion. Anyways, thanks again and enjoy!

Chapter 2

Ginny was at work. It was the day before the wedding and a week before Ginny's sixteenth birthday. As a wedding present, Ginny was replacing Bill's wand which was broken in the war and paid in advance for her future niece or nephew's wand. She let her mind wander as she worked. The store would be reopening the week of Ginny's birthday, just as everyone would be receiving their Hogwart's letters. All the new wands were made and organized on the shelves and all the wands that had been brought in were repaired. This week before the store opened, Ginny was organizing the repaired wands to be sent out, as well as any outstanding bills to be paid. It was tedious and a nice break from the full attention necessary to assist Mr. Ollivander with his repairs. Ginny had also insisted that as all the wands were finished Mr. Ollivander deserved a well earned rest before the grand reopening and sent him home with orders to stay there until next week, and reassurances that she was more than capable to finish up the last of the preparations.

She was currently thinking on the events over the course of the last few days and how everything seemed to go downhill since Malfoy had come over the other morning. Harry had been in an even more sour mood ever since and had told her he would no longer have time for their usual lunch dates. She imagined this had something to do with Snape and his inability to co-operate with the Ministry. She also didn't think that Malfoy, the breakfast thief as she had taken to calling him, could be helping any either. Since the war he had become much more tolerable and her mother and his had sparked a quick friendship since the final battle. Molly Weasley had offered her home to the Malfoy matriarch and her son while their home was renovated and cleansed of any dark magic left behind from the Dark Lord's stay. Their assets had been frozen in Gringotts and Mrs. Weasley felt it her duty to extend her home and kindness to the pair who had nothing until the Ministry reassembled. However, strangely Mrs. Malfoy had graciously declined the offer assuring Mrs. Weasley that she and her son would be fine but that she was very grateful for her kindness. Molly had insisted that they at least come round for tea and the following afternoon Narcissa Malfoy entered the Weasley home and had a cuppa with Molly and the family, Draco declined but sent his apologizes. That afternoon, Narcissa and Molly became fast friends and tea was now a weekly event. She and her son were also invited to the wedding tomorrow, and Ginny had been informed that Draco would be sitting at her table with the Trio and their friends. She wasn't pleased.

She never did find out what had made Harry so angry to storm out that morning, and she had barely seen him since. She was beginning to doubt their relationship and knew that if things didn't change, it was only a matter of time before she would have to end it. She knew deep down she didn't love him. She thought he was handsome and funny and enjoyed spending time with him when he wasn't in a mood, but she didn't love him, not romantically. Yes, she had had a crush on him since childhood and she was attracted to the allure of her older brother's best friend and saviour of the wizarding world. However, since they started their relationship she had become exposed to a difference side of Harry, one that she hadn't noticed from the outside of his circle. It was after the war when she noticed, he was less preoccupied with Voldemort and had less stress in his life which let him relax around her and let her in. That first month after the end of the war they spent almost every day together, and after that month they spend almost every night together too. They didn't begin their sexual relationship until the beginning of July, so about a month ago. That's when she saw the other side of Harry's personality.

He was surprised she wasn't a virgin, he had assumed like most of their friends and her family that she still was. Dean had been the one to take her virginity and when Harry found out he was furious. He had of course never been with a woman, Ginny was his first real girlfriend and he had been too preoccupied with not dying to try and catch anyone's eye even for just one night. They were home alone the night she told him, and she had been casual about it, not seeing it as anything that would cause the blow up it did. The first thing he did was flip the coffee table, and call her a whore. He asked her how many men she had spread her legs for, as she sat on the couch stunned.

He left the room after that, and when he came back she was still sitting there. He apologized and said he was still a bit on edge since the war, that he had put so much of his life on hold and he had thought she had been waiting for him. Remembering it now, Ginny saw how it was less of an apology and more of an explanation of his actions and how she had caused him to act that way. She never felt good enough for him. Her wandering mind snapped back to attention with a light knocking on the door to the shop. She looked over, it was Malfoy. She was confused, but walked to the door and opened it to him.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" her voice was meant to sound harsh and annoyed, but her curiosity was the most prevalent in her tone. "I would think that rather obvious Weasley, you do work in a wand shop." His expression was smug, but Ginny could see playfulness peaking through his otherwise opaque facade.

"We're not open Malfoy. The shop hasn't been open all year, so again I'll ask what are you doing here?" She was still standing in the doorway and hadn't let him enter the store. Malfoy didn't seem too concerned with standing at the door though; he was staring down at her face as if it was something new to him.

"Yes, I am aware. However, I damaged my wand today during my work with the Ministry and.." he paused slightly and his eyes danced when he said "your boyfriend."

Ginny crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow too him "So?"

"So Weasley, I need it fixed and soon." At this his pushed past her, rather easily to Ginny's embarrassment, into the shop and had a seat in one of the waiting chairs.

Ginny growled and slammed the door "Mr. Ollivander isn't in all week and I'm not calling him in just to fix your wand Malfoy. You'll just have to wait."

He raised an eyebrow to her and smirked "Come on Weasley. I have it on good authority you've been assisting him in his repairs all summer, and I don't think it's so bad as to need more work then you're capable."

That was almost a complement. Ginny was slightly shocked he knew what she did at Ollivander's and that he believed her capable to fix his wand.

"Fine" she begrudgingly accepted the task and walked up to his seat arm outstretched. He looked at her hands as if inspecting them for dirt before handing over his wand and smiling at her.

Ginny made a face at him and walked around to her desk to begin repairing the wand.

As she worked Malfoy sat patiently waiting, and Ginny tried her hardest to forget he was there. His wand was powerful and although it was an easy fix it fought against her foreign magic and didn't make it easy for her. Once the majority of the repairs were done, and the hard parts were out of the way Ginny decided to strike up some small talk. She didn't particularly care for Malfoy, but she was trying to embrace life and he had never done anything to personally hurt or insult her. Yes his father and hers had a feud, but his father was dead and their mothers had become fast friends. Yes her boyfriend and brother didn't care for him and they were long standing school rivals, but it didn't involve her and if anything Harry and Ron had been just as cruel to Malfoy when it got down to attacks and name calling. Get on with it, she scolded herself.

"Rough parts over, smooth sailing from here. Shouldn't be much longer." She said to him.

"Great. He must have taught you well, no one but Ollivander can usually touch my wand to repair it without catching on fire or some such thing."

"Really?" Ginny was surprised "It gave me some trouble but I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Our wands are basically identical though, they're just different lengths which is unusual, so maybe that played a part."

"Are they? That's actually really interesting. I mean yes Unicorn hair isn't a rare core, but Hathworn isn't a common wood. How long is yours?" he seemed generally interested.

"Eleven and a half inches, longer wands tend to favour shorter partners." Ginny said a little smugly.

Draco laughed, and Ginny found herself enjoying the sound. She realized Malfoy and she were slowly forming a friendship, and that she didn't seem to care.

The day of the wedding Ginny was hiding. Fleur was a mess and Ginny had spent the better part f the morning trying to calm her down and fulfill her every request. She needed a break. She was outside in the garden watching everyone arrive.

The wedding was taking place in a tent the Weasley's had constructed in their back yard and would also be the venue for the reception. Ginny watched the estimated 500 guests arriving; it was 20 minutes until the wedding would begin.

Ginny saw Draco arrive with his Mother and Professor Snape, and her eyes locked on his as they waited in the line to enter the tent. She stood to greet him when "Ginny!" her mother called her from the house.

"What are you doing outside? Fleur is a mess and we need all the help we can get in here!" her mother barked at her as she re-entered the house. Ginny was one of four bridesmaids. Fleur's sister was maid-of-honor and the others were Ginny, Hermione, and a friend of Fleur's from school. Honestly Fleur wasn't very good friends with the girl but needed a fourth bridesmaids to equal the number of groomsmen. Obviously the groomsmen were Ginny's brothers. Charlie was the best man, and Fred, George, and Ron brought up the rear.

Ginny entered the house and went into the living room where the bridal party was waiting. Ginny didn't know what her mother was on about, Fleur was sitting on the sofa carefully eating a sandwich and drinking a cup of tea. She seemed perfectly calm to Ginny. She realized the issue however as soon as Mrs. Weasley entered the room, she was the mess.

"OH! Fleur dear do be careful! You don't want to stain your beautiful dress do you? And Hermione! Put that book away and go check on the tent and groom, 10 minutes people!" Molly shrieked about the living room. Ginny looked to Fleur, who was maintaining her calm demeanour but Ginny decided her mother needed to leave the poor bride alone to her first meal of the morning.

"Mom!" Ginny said loudly "why don't you go check that everyone is seated while we take our places to enter the tent?"

"Oh yes dear you're right. Now where is Hermione? That girl is never around when I need her."

As Mrs. Weasley left the room Hermione entered "Where's your mother?" she asked looking around

"I sent her off to go check that everyone is ready, I thought everyone could use a short break"

Hermione laughed "So she forgot she just sent me to check on that then?"

Everyone laughed. "Okay places people!" Ginny called to Fleur's sister and school friend who were huddled in the corner looking out the window to the tent.

Fleur stood, she looked ravishing. The girls collected themselves and straightened out the bride's dress as they prepared their line to emerge from the door. They had just readied themselves when Mrs. Wealsey returned with Fleur's father in tow. "Everyone ready?" Molly asked smiling.

Fleur and her father shared a hug and the music began,

The wedding ceremony went by flawlessly. Even Fred and George were on their best behavior during their older brother's big day.

The tent was now transformed into a reception venue, and Ginny found herself seated at a table with her friends and Draco Malfoy. The meal and speeches were over and it was that magical time during a wedding reception between the end of the speeches and the throwing of the garter and bouquet. Enough time to mingle and for those sad souls to cry when they don't catch the bouquet.

The original occupants of Ginny's table were mostly scattered. Along with herself, Luna, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Harry, the twins, and Draco had been seated there. However, now she was seated alone but for Malfoy. Neville and Luna were dancing, quiet strangely and they were joined by the twins and Angelina Johnson who was George's date. Hermione and Ron were taking advantage of the empty house since everyone was outside with the party. Thinking about it now, Ginny didn't know where Harry had run off to. She vaguely remembered him saying he was going for a walk but she didn't remember it being enunciated very properly.

"So" she said addressing Draco "how's your wand since I fixed it?" she felt like this was a lame choice of conversation but couldn't think of anything better.

"Perfect" he replied and gave her a dazzling and once again genuine smile.

Ginny was still perplexed by the sight of Draco (she had given into her apparent need to call him by his given name) smiling so honestly. During the meal he stayed relatively quiet, speaking pleasantly to the twins and largely ignoring the trio. Ron had thrown some rude criticisms his way, and Draco had noticeably resisted the temptation to spit some back at her brother. She thought perhaps once school began she would see more of this smile when he is back with his friends, but as of this moment she had only seen him direct to her, and briefly earlier in the evening he smiled at his mother.

"That's great. I'm glad I didn't make it worse." She smiled at him and realized she had exhausted her arsenal of Draco Malfoy conversation starters.

"So what do you want to do when you're done school?" Draco asked her "Do you think you might want to continue on in the field of wand construction?"

"Oh don't get me started Draco Malfoy, this is not a conversation for as happy an occasion as a wedding" She laughed and had an idea. Looking around Ginny saw the table next to theirs still had a full bottle of the complimentary wine provided for each table at dinner. She went over and grabbed it, came back to her table and handed it to Draco to open.

"If you want to continue on this topic we're going to need wine Mr. Malfoy" she said

Draco laughed and opened the wine "So I take it you're undecided as of right now?" he asked while pouring their glasses.

"The truth is I don't think wand making would be a bad profession, but I don't know if I'm ready to dedicate myself to that much work. Wand making isn't just a couple years study, it's something you only truly master near the end of your life." She laughed and put her glass up to her lips "And even then that's only true if you live to be 180 or more"

They laughed at her joke and both downed their glasses. Ginny pour some more "What about you? You're actually done after this year have you thought about what you want to do?"

"I don't technically have to work if I don't want to. So I always have that to fall back on" Draco laughed "but I am interested in healing."

Ginny was intrigued "Healing, really? Healer Malfoy. It doesn't sound wrong, but it's not something you expect to hear either."

"I found during the war that I have a particular talent in it, and as I have a talent for potion making too it's helpful that they go hand in hand."

"Well it's a specialty of our wands' wood type as well. I think it' why I was so quick to learn how to repair broken wands. It is a type of healing." They laughed. "I thought they froze your accounts after the war, have they reopened them? I know how hard you must have had it not being able to continue living in the playboy manner to which you were accustom" Ginny teased.

"Ginny Ginny Ginny. My dear girl. I forgive you, because growing up with so little money you must not have learned the trick that keep one a float." Draco smirked at her "Gringotts has 3 Malfoy accounts; Mine, my mother's, and my father's which is now mine as well. However, the total of those 3 accounts is barely a fraction of what we have placed in other safe locations across Britain and Europe."

Ginny wasn't surprised "That's crafty, but then again you are Slytherins. Maybe there is something to learn from you snaked after all."

They tapped their glasses and as they did so it was announced that the bouquet was going to be thrown. Ginny remained seated.

"Aren't you going to go catch it? See if marriage is in your future Weasley?" Draco teased.

"I'm not exactly the bouquet catching type" Ginny replied in a bored tone. Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her up "Come on, live a little" he said as he pushed her toward the crowed of women. She heard him call "If you catch it, who knows, maybe I'll marry you."

Ginny laughed and decided it wouldn't hurt to try. She looked up just as Fleur was throwing the bouquet.

She threw her hands up. Felt them clasp onto something. She pulled, and ran out of the crowd clutching the bouquet.


End file.
